The scientists were awarded the Nobel prize "for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves", the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced in Stockholm on Tuesday.
While Rainer Weiss has been awarded one half of the prize, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish will share the other half of the prize.
On September 14, 2015, the universe's gravitational waves were observed for the very first time. The waves came from a collision between two black holes. It took 1.3 billion years for the waves to arrive at the LIGO detector in the US.
“This is something completely new and different, opening up unseen worlds,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its statement on awarding the 9-million Swedish crown ($1.1 million) prize.
“A wealth of discoveries awaits those who succeed in capturing the waves and interpreting their message.”
Physics is the second of this year’s crop of Nobel Prizes and comes after Americans Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine on Monday.
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